20 AGRICXILTURE HANDBOOK NO. 309, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



both groups, nor will she pick up 

 the young and return them to the 

 nest. 



The counterset nest boxes are 

 easier to keep clean than the apple- 

 box and nailkeg nest boxes because 

 the inner drawers of the counterset 

 nest box can be slipped out for wash- 

 ing and disinfecting. These draw- 

 ers also can be interchanged from 

 one hutch to another. When the 

 young no longer need the inner 

 drawer, it can be left out to provide 

 more space in the hutch. 



BILL OF MATERIAL FOR NEST BOX AND 

 DRAWER 



Nest box: 



Sides. — Two pieces of lumber,^ 



1 by 12 by 17 inches. 

 End. — One piece of lumber, 1 by 



8 by 1214 inches. 

 Door. — One piece of lumber, 1 



by 121/4, inches. 

 Winter enclosure. — One piece of 



lumber, 1 by 8 by 12 14 inches. 

 Cover. — One piece of l^-inch 



hardboard, 12 by 121/4, inches. 

 Bottom. — One piece of 16-gage 



galvanized wire, 1- by l/^-inch 



mesh, 12 by 18 inches. 



Nest drawer: 



Sides. — Two pieces of Vs'iiich 



hardboard (tempered), 71/4 



by 16% inches. 

 Ends. — Two pieces of lumber, 1 



by 8 by 10 inches. 

 Bottom. — One piece of i^-inch 



hardboard (tempered), 81/^ by 



16% inches. 



Miscellaneous : 



Nails. — ^Use sixpenny or eight- 

 penny nails to fasten the end, 

 top, and sides of the nest box, 

 eightpenny to fasten the nest 

 drawer, and lV4-inch roofing 

 nails (large head) to fasten 



*No. 2 construction knotty pine or 

 1-inch box lumber. 



the wire bottom to the nest 

 box. 

 Protecting strips. — To prevent 

 chewing and splintering, nail 

 30-gage galvanized sheet metal, 

 bent to form a I/2- by %-inch 

 angle, to the exposed edges of 

 the nest box and drawer. 



Hinges. — T wo 1-inch strap 

 hinges for the door. 



In shaping the sides of the nest 

 box for the slanted roof, you can 

 use the piece of lumber cut from 

 the rear of each side to build up 

 the front. The completed sides 

 should be 17 inches long, and 

 should slant from 16 inches tall in 

 the front to 8 inches tall at the 

 rear (fig. 6). 



Suspend the completed nest box 

 in the hutch by the cradle of No. 12 

 wire at the rear and the three re- 

 maining strands of hutch flooring 

 in the front. The cradle of No. 12 

 wire can be made in three sections 

 to fit down each side of the box 

 and under the bottom, or in one 

 long piece. In either case it is 

 merely hooked onto the hutch 

 flooring next to the nest box on 

 one side, passed down and across 

 beneath the box and up the other 

 side to a^ain hook on the hutch 

 floor. This provides adequate sup- 

 port for the rear of the nest box. 

 Slip the three strands of flooring 

 into notches cut into the front end 

 of the nest box just above the door. 



To prevent the nest box from 

 slipping to the rear so that the 

 floor wire at the front end no 

 longer acts as a support, the side 

 boards of the nest box can be cut 

 so as to extend a little above the 

 back board of the nest box. Then 

 as the back board comes up under 

 the hutch floor, these side boards 

 project a little above the floor and 

 prevent the nest from being pushed 

 to the rear. 



